One reason I love living in Centre Country is the Way Fruit Farm on Halfmoon Valley Road (don’t you love that there’s a real road somewhere called Halfmoon Valley?). Way Fruit Farm began selling those first apples in 1867, and six generations later, Brooks and Sharon Way, along with their daughter and son-in-law, continue the tradition.
Imagine driving past farmland and stables and horses and willow trees. Imagine the hills and the changing leaves and the lush Pennsylvania land. When you see the apple orchards, turn right to visit Way Fruit Farm.
We take our daughters to Way Fruit Farm all year long. There’s always something wonderful to see and taste. It’s a special place that smells like apple pie in the store and whose rolling hills of orchards and crops are beautiful to see. For eight years now, we’ve traveled on the old wagon to pick our pumpkins, and then we fill a bag with delicious apples.
Last weekend, I asked Sharon Way to tell me about her personal favorite apple. She’s an expert! Her whole life is apples! I tell her the Honey Crisp is too sweet for me; I like crunchy and tart. She agrees and points to her favorite apple: the Crimson Crisp.
It’s so good I can’t believe it. So crisp–extremely crisp–and tart enough that it’s like eating a Sour Patch Kid. But as you chew it, it turns sweet again.
Living with flair means thanking God for apples like this, for orchards, and for this great land that yields this kind of food.
You must try a Crimson Crisp. And if you have a free Saturday, come visit Way Fruit Farm for their Fall Festivals on the Saturdays in October.
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Heather, I'm smelling apples with cinnamon and nutmeg cooking in my crockpot as I write this, so your post was very timely. The apples came from the ancient Gravenstein tree in my front yard, a survivor of an apple orchard from about 100 years ago.
I'm with you as far as taste preference, and now I know to be on the lookout for Crimson Crisps! I've never heard of that variety, and I hope I'll be able to enjoy some this fall. I wish you lived nearby so I could share some applesauce with you and your family. 🙂 I continue to enjoy your daily posts and have saved many favorites to a file. Thank you for brightening my afternoons!
Oh no, Heather, this made my jaw pucker up with sour! I'm a middle of the taste range kind of girl. I like them sweet enough not to need sugar in the sauce 🙂
We look forward to visiting our nearby apple orchard all year. It is one my husband and my favorite things to do. I will definitely have to look for Crimson Crisps (although I love Honey Crisp).
I do love the apple orchards! Thanks, Carla!
I do like sweet apple sauce. I think the Crimson Red would be way too tart!!
Me too! I wish we were nearby!!
Is it me, or are there many more varieties of apples than there were in the (gulp) 1950's, or '60's, or 70's?